Video: Rob Reiner Recalls the Lost 'Spinal Tap' Sex Plot

In the immortal words of Mick Shrimpton, “As long as there’s sex and drugs, I can do without rock 'n' roll.” Unfortunately for the Spinal Tap drummer, director Rob Reiner cut the sex out of This Is Spinal Tap.

Because Reiner shot the movie in just a few weeks without a script and later assembled the narrative over nine months, some major plot elements ended up on the cutting room floor. For example, at one point, the entire story was going to be told from the point of view of a roadie, and, in much of the original footage, guitarist Nigel Tufnel is obsessed with 1950s clay figurine Gumby.

But perhaps the greatest Spinal Tap lost plot is the infectious love square among Nigel (Christopher Guest), David St. Hubbins (Michael McKeon), Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) and the lead singer of New Wave girl group the Dose, played by former Runaways singer Cherie Currie. The only remnants of this storyline that made it into the final cut is Currie herself (ever so briefly) and some mysterious red marks on Nigel and David’s lips.